The present invention relates to hitch apparatus and more particularly, to a ball hitch apparatus having a quick change ball connector.
Ball and socket hitch connectors are some of the most popular and widely used devices for connecting a vehicle to be towed, such as a trailer, to a towing vehicle, such as a car, truck or tractor. A conventional ball and socket type hitch usually includes a spherical body, also referred to as a ball connector, that is adapted for attachment to a draw bar or tow bar of a towing vehicle. The tongue or hitch of the trailer or other vehicle to be towed is equipped with a socket adapted to fit over the spherical body or ball connector and includes movable and lockable jaws adapted to tighten under the spherical body to prevent the socket from being removed therefrom during towing operations. Such ball and socket hitch devices are relatively safe; they are easy to connect and disconnect, and they provide a hitch connection in which the tongue or hitch of the towed vehicle can pivot to a considerable extent in any plane about the hitch connection point.
Notwithstanding the popularity and wide acceptance of such ball and socket hitches for towing vehicles, there remain some heretofore unresolved problems with their use. One of the most pervasive and aggravating problems arises from the fact that the size of the spherical, ball-shaped body of the ball connector has to be matched rather closely with the size of the socket on the hitch or tongue of the vehicle to be towed. If the ball connector is too large for the socket, the socket will simply not fit over the ball connector and the trailer cannot be connected to the towing vehicle. On the other hand, if the spherical ball connector is too small for the socket, it might not be possible to get a secure connection of the socket to the ball connector. A severe safety hazard can result from such an insecure or ineffective connection of the trailer to the towing vehicle. Unfortunately, because of strength requirements, and in many instances, purely arbitrary decisions, trailer manufacturers equip their trailers with a variety of different sized sockets. Therefore, in order to use the same towing vehicle to tow different trailers, the ball connector on the towing vehicle often must be changed to a different size.
Changing conventional ball hitch connectors attached to tow bars of towing vehicles is not always an easy task, and it often requires large wrenches or other tools. If such tools are not available to the person at the time the ball hitch connector has to be changed, such a change is almost impossible. Further, it is not unusual for the bolts used to attach the ball hitch connectors to tow bars of vehicles to become severely damaged due to dragging on pavement, rocks and the like when the vehicle is driven through dips or over rough roads. When such damage occurs, removal of the ball hitch connectors can be a very difficult task, even with the proper tools available. Moreover, there is always the risk that during repeated changes of a conventional ball hitch connector, the ball hitch connector will not be properly tightened and will become loosened during use which can result in a safety hazard.
In recognition of this problem, interchangable ball hitch connector apparatus have been developed; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,854 to Smith. However, these interchangable ball hitch connector apparatus have several problems associated with them. For example, the Smith patent utilizes an internal releasable attachment mechanism for releasably attaching a ball connector to a support base. The releasable attachment mechanism includes a latch pin slidably positioned in a transverse bore and biased outwardly by a spring positioned in the bore behind the latch pin. It is quite possible for the operation of the releasable attachment mechanism to become obstructed or otherwise interferred with by dirt and the like. For example, dirt might prohibit the spring 40 from biasing the latch pin 32 outwardly. Moreover, dirt might block the cavity of the spherical body into which the latch pin is to project or protrude. Accordingly, a secure positive lock will be prevented. If the user is not careful or attentive when interchanging spherical bodies, it is quite possible that this impaired and improper functioning will go unnoticed when interchanging the ball connectors. Moreover, during use it is quite possible that the biasing spring might break or its operation become otherwise impaired such that the latch pin is no longer biased into the annular cavity of the spherical body so as to retain the spherical body in place. This can result in a severe safety hazard which most likely will go unnoticed by the operator due to the internal nature of the releasable attachment mechanism. Additionally, dirt and grease or the like might collect on the stub shaft of the support base or the stub shaft might otherwise become disfigured and/or the bore of the spherical body might become partially obstructed by dirt and grease or the like such that the spherical body is prevented from being properly positioned on the stub shaft. If the user is not attentive during the interchanging process it is quite possible that the spherical body will be positioned only part way onto the stub shaft of the support base, thereby preventing secure attachment by the internal releasable attachment mechanism. Indeed, it is quite possible that the internal releasable attachment mechanism is no longer present and this goes unnoticed by the operator during the interchanging process. Moreover, should the internal releasable attachment mechanism be lost, or its operation be otherwise impaired, this will necessitate replacement of the stub shaft.
These and many other problems associated with the prior art are solved by the present invention.